Tuanzebe seems to be one of those loved players, and of course you need a bad guy as well. It seems like a lot of people think Lindelöf was an unnecessary signing because it would have been better to give the chance to Tuanzebe. Can someone explain this to me? I think I have only seen Tuanzebe once as a CB and that was with three at the back. If he is a good enough defender for PL, which I can’t judge based on the very few matches I have seen with him as a defender, it seems more strange that he doesn’t get the chance to play RB as the competition there is weaker and to me that is where I think he would perform best. Or is it simply a favourite vs an outsider kind of thing?
Because Mourinho is a coward.
"I have faith in them," the manager told
MUTV during an interview at the Aon Training Complex last week.
"Honestly, sometimes, I don't play them more because I have respect for some of the older players that are great professionals and are always ready for the team.
"But, in terms of their qualities, McTominay and Tuanzebe are ready, they are ready to play so I played them with 25, 30 minutes to go against CSKA. I played Scott against Benfica when we had not even yet qualified. I have lots of faith in both of them."
Tuanebe has played once this season, man of the match against Swansea. Last season he played right back against Sanchez, who was invisible the whole match. Take it in, he didn't play for months, with no real experience, in a unfamiliar position against one of the best teams in the league at their turf. And he was great.
He played as a midfielder and was great there too. The truth is that Axel hasn't played a game where he wasn't one of the best players on the pitch.
Same thing happening here.
Lindelof was bought for £35M and are currently fourth choice. And he is 24 years old this year and played in the same back three as Tuanzebe against Swansea and wasn't equally good. Tuanzebe, in my opinion, is the bigger talent and are more than ready to be fourth choice. Otherwise, it's a risk being another Pogba situation where the player leave the club when we instead play mediocre players because we paid money for them. Lindelof might turn out to be a good player, but he should never have been bought in the first place. Waste of money when we could play Axel there (and TFM maybe) instead we could fill the gap at midfield or for a new winger. Or full back.